Manuel 'Mar' Roxas II – Leading light of Philippines

Trade Secretary Mar Roxas II, one of the most eligible bachelors in Manila, has been described as a leading light of the Liberal Party, and according to some, ‘helped put IT as the top agenda in the Estrada and Arroyo government’.

Trade Secretary Mar Roxas
II, one of the most eligible bachelors in Manila,
has been described as a leading light of the Liberal
Party, and according to some, ‘helped put IT as
the top agenda in the Estrada and Arroyo government'.

Coming from a famous family lineage which includes
Philippines’ first President - Manuel Roxas,
his grandfather - he has been entrusted with
the Trade Secretary role twice in successive
governments of Estrada and Macapagal-Arroyo.

Roxas II, who hailed as a former banker with
a degree in economics from the Wharton School
of Economics and the Kennedy School of Government,
is largely liked by the people of Capiz and the
IT fraternity in the Philippines.

As Trade Secretary in Estrada’s government,
Roxas has been credited for highlighting that
the Philippines enjoys an abundance of knowledge
workers second only to India. This is seen in
the sizeable number of multinationals outsourcing
their software systems or applications development
activities, engineering design, and human resources
management to the Philippines.

As
Trade Secretary on Estrada’s trip to the
US last year, he helped ink a package of
financial assistance worth $125.5 million,
including the delivery of helicopters and
a Coast Guard cutter to the Philippines,
and for a $20-million food aid package
for Mindanao.

Currently, Mar Roxas holds the co-chairman post
to take charge of the Philippines IT development.

As Trade Secretary on Estrada’s trip to the
US last year, he helped ink a package of financial
assistance worth $125.5 million, including the
delivery of helicopters and a Coast Guard cutter
to the Philippines, and for a $20-million food
aid package for Mindanao. And the International
Monetary Fund has committed to release a $314-million
package for presidential fiscal projects aimed
at strengthening the floundering peso. And billionaire
Gates donated $12 million worth of computer software
for distribution to some 1,000 public high schools
in the Philippines.

Described as having a reserved demeanor and
a low-key style, Mar Roxas II has been sounding
the clarion call for Filipinos to take up the
challenges of a new global economy, premised
on the ethereal estates of intellectual property,
technological innovation and international business
competitiveness. – Lim Fung Meng, ZDNet Asia

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